Manchester City defender Jason Denayer has said he was defending a friend after being caught up in a street brawl in Brussels.
Footage has emerged on social media of the Belgium international, who spent the past season on loan at Sunderland, kicking out at a man who is punching another man on the ground.
The incident occurred outside a nightclub sometime after dawn on Sunday morning.
Denayer, 21, says he and his friend were leaving the nightclub when his friend became caught up in an argument which developed into a fight.
Two different video clips of the incident are circulating but the longest version shows Denayer initially reluctant to intervene and only does so after his friend is pinned to the ground.